Campmano/Shimagnola - groupset compatibility for a cross bike

[ejls2]

Hi all,

Apologies for asking a question that, I'm sure, must have been asked many times before. I have tried searching but am generating loads of results but nothing that seems to answer the question.

I am building up a cross bike for my little brother and am having to do it on a bit of a budget! I have been told that you can get Campag 9 speed ergo levers to work with shimano mountain bike mechs and campag wheels. I have seen people running weird combinations like this but have never been sure whether they were running campag wheels or shimano wheels.

I imagine the front mech won't be an issue but does anyone know specifically whether or not a 9 speed ergolever will work with a 9 speed shimano mech and a 9 speed campag cassette?

Many thanks in advance,

Ed

 

[redjedi]

Hi Ed

My experience is limited but may help. I've used Campag levers with the rest being Shimano. One of the few combos that just works is 10spd levers with an 8 speed cassette. As long as you set the limit screws on the rear mech correctly, you won't notice the 2 extra clicks in the levers.

If you can use a Campag wheel/casette then the levers will need to match the cassette size. 9spd cassette/levers should be ok to use with a 8/9 speed Shimano rear mech.

But if you want a perfect match, then you can get a Shiftmate for almost any combination. See here for all the options, which you can buy from SJS Cycles in the UK.

The front mech doesn't matter, as long as it fits your crankset correctly. The only time you will need to change the front mech is if you go for the QS (quick shift) levers by Campag. If you do, you'll need to get a QS front mech as well.

I hope that helps

 

[MacB]

Ed, two sources of info for you, first the CTC page covering this Shimergo stuff, main focus is getting Ergo levers to work with Shimano stuff:-

http://www.ctc.org.uk/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=3946

Seems the attraction is the reduced price of the ergo levers. These tables show certain combinations working well and some that require the routing of the cabling to the rear mech to be altered. The other alternative is the Jtek shiftmate which alters the amount of cable the lever pulls for each change. This is claimed to be superior to any other method, the Jtek site tells you what model you need for what combo:-

http://jtekengineering.com/shiftmate.htm

Don't forget that both Ergo and STI levers pull less cable than required for v-brake operation. To use v-brakes you need a travel agent adjuster, a very similar wheel/pulley setup to the shiftmate. However this has far more mixed reviews than the shiftmate.

 

[Will1985]

Read up on recent threads created by Young Un.

 

[ejls2]

Thank you all very much! That is all very helpful!

Red - Cheers for that. I may well give my erg levers + camapg wheels and cassete a go with a shimano mech and see what happens. If it doesn't work there's always ebay!

MacB - Thank you for the links. I will have a read in detail this evening

Will - thanks. I hope my thread doesn't get as complicated as his! I will give my current mash up a go and see if it works. If not, new rear mech here we come.

Cheers again all.

Ed